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Anyone wants to offer an alternative hypothesis on why HN traffic didn't get skyrocketed like every other outlet?

AnonHP 6y ago
It’s possible that the moderators tweaked some knobs to control the rates of submission, the rise to the front page, the time on the front page, etc. Not that they did it individually, but there could be more added mechanisms this year. Maybe they will respond and provide some insights.
malikNF 6y ago
Personally for me, before during and after the quarantine my use of HN has pretty much remained the same, I work with computers (like most of us here) and I check HN when I get a little bit of down-time, like while waiting for something to compile or waiting for a file to get transferred or something to finish installing,only thing that changed was during the quarantine I was working from home, the number of hours I worked, the nature of work I do and how I do that work remained pretty much the same. So, I am guessing this is pretty much what happened to most of us as well? And therefore for a majority of HN users, our HN browsing habits probably stayed the same?
- swyx 6y ago
  in short, HN readers were already living in de facto quarantine pre quarantine
  - dekervin 6y ago
    Let me fix that : In short, HN readers were already living in the future pre quarantine. Basically applying one of PG maxims in "How to Get Startup Ideas"[0]: "Live in the future, then build what's missing." http://www.paulgraham.com/startupideas.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupideas.html
    - dekervin 6y ago
      I am genuinely curious of what triggered the downvote. It makes me feel as if I didn't express myself correctly. If anyone has an idea ?
      - swyx 6y ago
        it was less relevant than my comment, which was already not very relevant.
        dekervin 6y ago
        Thanks for your reply ! Well, I found your comment extremely relevant, and delivered in a very succint (albeit tongue in cheek ) way. A greater share of the HN readership was already having a quarantine friendly work/lifestyle, than the general population. Due to underlying macro-trends (technology, mobile consumer internet, entrepreneurship...). And one of these macro-trends, the fragility of our hyper-reactive interconnected world, was illuminated by the covid crisis. I will try to reach you on twitter, to not pollute this thread further.
        swyx 6y ago
        i doubt it really matters for the record i did not downvote you.
jlokier 6y ago
Here's a hypothesis. I have no idea if it's true: HN users tend to be in relatively well protected employment with regard to lockdown, i.e. either already remote, or as software devs / white collar workers who can easily deal with the switch to remote, including the costs.

It’s possible that the moderators tweaked some knobs to control the rates of submission, the rise to the front page, the time on the front page, etc. Not that they did it individually, but there could be more added mechanisms this year. Maybe they will respond and provide some insights.

malikNF 6y ago

Personally for me, before during and after the quarantine my use of HN has pretty much remained the same, I work with computers (like most of us here) and I check HN when I get a little bit of down-time, like while waiting for something to compile or waiting for a file to get transferred or something to finish installing,only thing that changed was during the quarantine I was working from home, the number of hours I worked, the nature of work I do and how I do that work remained pretty much the same. So, I am guessing this is pretty much what happened to most of us as well? And therefore for a majority of HN users, our HN browsing habits probably stayed the same?

swyx 6y ago
in short, HN readers were already living in de facto quarantine pre quarantine
- dekervin 6y ago
  Let me fix that : In short, HN readers were already living in the future pre quarantine. Basically applying one of PG maxims in "How to Get Startup Ideas"[0]: "Live in the future, then build what's missing." http://www.paulgraham.com/startupideas.html http://www.paulgraham.com/startupideas.html
  - dekervin 6y ago
    I am genuinely curious of what triggered the downvote. It makes me feel as if I didn't express myself correctly. If anyone has an idea ?
    - swyx 6y ago
      it was less relevant than my comment, which was already not very relevant.
      - dekervin 6y ago
        Thanks for your reply ! Well, I found your comment extremely relevant, and delivered in a very succint (albeit tongue in cheek ) way. A greater share of the HN readership was already having a quarantine friendly work/lifestyle, than the general population. Due to underlying macro-trends (technology, mobile consumer internet, entrepreneurship...). And one of these macro-trends, the fragility of our hyper-reactive interconnected world, was illuminated by the covid crisis. I will try to reach you on twitter, to not pollute this thread further.
        swyx 6y ago
        i doubt it really matters for the record i did not downvote you.

jlokier 6y ago

Here's a hypothesis. I have no idea if it's true: HN users tend to be in relatively well protected employment with regard to lockdown, i.e. either already remote, or as software devs / white collar workers who can easily deal with the switch to remote, including the costs.